How long should I keep physical bank statements?

satkin2

Hi,

I've just recently moved house and I'm going through all of my files. I've got bank statements going back a few years.

I've seen on here recommendations to keep statements for up to 6 years, but having numerous statements each month means that keeping multiple statements for a number of years leaves a large amount of paperwork that has to be stored somewhere.

If I get a paper statement I always scan it so that I also have an electronic copy and when it's an online statement, I always print it so that I've got a hard copy too. Is the electronic copy of these historically all that I need, or is keeping the paper copy really necessary.

It's purely the amount of space so much paper work takes really. If I could just keep a years paper whilst maintaining the electronic files that would be fine, or do I need a paper version at all?

Any advice would be very welcome.

Thanks

InsideInsurance

Assuming they arent business accounts then there is no legal requirement to keep them at all.

Given the law of limitations in most cases gives you 6 years to make a claim it is prudent to keep them for 6-7 years but it doesnt necessarily have to be in hardcopy format. Having original format may help in a few rare cases but as long as you can find which ones you need from however you've stored them you can always get prints from the bank who will also keep at least 6 years available. Most max out reprint charges at £10 due to you being able to do a DPA request for £10 (though under DPA it doesnt have to be given in the nice statement format)

Bloomberg

satkin2 wrote: »

Hi,

I've just recently moved house and I'm going through all of my files. I've got bank statements going back a few years.

I've seen on here recommendations to keep statements for up to 6 years, but having numerous statements each month means that keeping multiple statements for a number of years leaves a large amount of paperwork that has to be stored somewhere.

If I get a paper statement I always scan it so that I also have an electronic copy and when it's an online statement, I always print it so that I've got a hard copy too. Is the electronic copy of these historically all that I need, or is keeping the paper copy really necessary.

It's purely the amount of space so much paper work takes really. If I could just keep a years paper whilst maintaining the electronic files that would be fine, or do I need a paper version at all?

Any advice would be very welcome.

Thanks

I am averse to the idea of having paper statements for security reasons. If a statement falls into the wrong hands then the security of your account could be seriously compromised. The postman could deliver the statement to the wrong address or heaven forbid your house could be burgled. I have all of mine on line. Barclays and Barclycard offer statements in PDF format and they look just like the paper ones. They are kept for a good few years and can be printed on demand.

zerog

Bloomberg wrote: »

I am averse to the idea of having paper statements for security reasons. If a statement falls into the wrong hands then the security of your account could be seriously compromised. The postman could deliver the statement to the wrong address or heaven forbid your house could be burgled. I have all of mine on line. Barclays and Barclycard offer statements in PDF format and they look just like the paper ones. They are kept for a good few years and can be printed on demand.

There are also security issues with having electronic statements.

Since I check all my accounts regularly, I don't really need statements at all for banking purposes, just a list of recent transactions. The only time I do need them is to check the exchange rate I was given by a credit card, because I usually don't remember the GBP amounts of my foreign spending - seeing as I made the decision to purchase based on the foreign currency price. And for checking interest calculations, though I do this only rarely.

The only reason I get paper statements is because you never know when you might be asked for physical proof of your address or your finances. For example, if I need to apply for a visa to a certain country.

getmore4less

With a decent paper filing system with an archive policy it becomes an issue of a bit of space.

One advantage of paper copy is it is for all practical purposes it is permanent.

With electronic copies you have to consider the ability to read them and need backups. Most media has a shelf life before it become unreadable, and over time the ability to read dies as the readers are no longer available.

Another option that can work is to use a package like MSmoney and have a records of the transaction in that.

Again that can lead to problems I have data that is in an old version format that is no longer readable by newer version of software. Ihave some even older dta on DAT tapes that I have no reader for.

Have a policy and create a system,
One thing I do for accounts that get closed(eg mobile contracts when I hopped free ones with cash backs and credit cards from stoozing) is keep the opening docs and the closing statement destroying all the interim statements and pop them in an archive arch lever file, once that fills I will get rid of the really old ones.

One thing to think about is what happens when/if you die, having a good records system in paper format makes the job a lot easier for an administrator, on-line electronic is a nightmare.

Get yourselves the IHT 205/IHT400 forms and do your own estate thinking about what you need to leave for someone that has no idea how you do things unless you write it down.

innovate

I have dozens of different personal accounts and have not kept any paper statement on any of them for at least two decades. All accounts have online statements and if I ever need one of them, I can look it up, and print it if required. All my transactions for the last 11 years are in MS Money so I can easily find specific transactions and run / create reports to my heart's content.

EDIT: I even shred, on the day of receipt, the annual interest statements that say "must keep this document for tax purposes". All the interest payments are recorded in MS Money, anyway, and it takes me 30 seconds to get the annual total of taxable interest for my tax return. HMRC have never once asked for a paper statements that detail the interest payments, and it they did, I would just give them my MS Money report.

innovate

getmore4less wrote: »

One thing to think about is what happens when/if you die, having a good records system in paper format makes the job a lot easier for an administrator, on-line electronic is a nightmare.

It doesn't have to be a nightmare - you just need an index of all your accounts and the access information needs to be known, or made known (e.g. in your will) to someone you have confidence in. Keeping things on paper does not guarantee a logical or complete record of your affairs.

iAMaLONDONER

innovate wrote: »

I have dozens of different personal accounts and have not kept any paper statement on any of them for at least two decades. All accounts have online statements and if I ever need one of them, I can look it up, and print it if required. All my transactions for the last 11 years are in MS Money so I can easily find specific transactions and run / create reports to my heart's content.

EDIT: I even shred, on the day of receipt, the annual interest statements that say "must keep this document for tax purposes". All the interest payments are recorded in MS Money, anyway, and it takes me 30 seconds to get the annual total of taxable interest for my tax return. HMRC have never once asked for a paper statements that detail the interest payments, and it they did, I would just give them my MS Money report.

What's MS money? I haven't heard of it before

Archi_Bald

You must have lived a very sheltered life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Money

Just in case you haven't heard yet: there's been a very useful invention around the turn of the millenium, called Google Search. You should try it.